News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-03-10
THE SUNDAY PULPIT.
DISCOURSE BY THE REV. DIR. tai.
MAGE.
Subject OF Discourse: "The Ran
somed."

TEXT: "Ye are bought With a price ~
Corinthians, vi, 20.
Your friend takes you through his valu
able house You examine the arches, tn
fresco, the grass-plots, the fish-ponds, tn
conservatories, the parks of deer, and you
say within yourself, or you say aloud
what did all this costE' You see costly
apparel, or you see high-mettled span o
horses harnesSed with silver and gold, auC
you begin to make an estimate of the value
The man who owns large estate cannot in
stantly tell you what it is all worth. HI
says: 81 will estimate so much for the
house, so much for the furniture, so much
Tor laying out the grounds, so much for the
stock, so much for the barn, so much for
the equipage-adding up, in all making this
aggregate"
Well, my friends, hear so much about our
mansion in heaven, about its furniture and
the grand surroundings, that want to know
ally been paid for it. | cannot complete in
month or year the magnificent calcula-
ton; but before get through to-day | hope
TO give you the figures. I'VE are bought
with price,
With some friends 1 went to London
Tower to look at the crown jewels of Eng
land. We walked around, caught one glimpse
of them, and being in the procession were
compelled to pass out. ! wish that to-day |
could take this audience into the tower of
Gods mercy and strength, that you might
walk around lust once at least and see the
crown Jewels of eternity, behold their brill
lance and estimate their value. "1e are
bought with price, Now, if you have
large amount of money to pay, you do not
pay il all at once but you pay it by Install
ments-so much the first of January, so much
the first of April, so much the first of July,
so much the first of October, until the entire
amount is paid. And have to tell this audi
ence that ''You have been bought with
price, aud that that price was paid in differ
ent installments.
The first installment paid for the clearance
of our souls was the ignominious birth OF
Christ in Bethlehem. Though we may never
be carefully looked after afterward, our ad-
vent into the world IS carefully guarded We
come into the world amid kindly attentions.
Privacy and silence are afforded when God
launches an immortal soul into the world.
Even the toughest of men know enough to
stand back But l have to tell you that in
the village on the side of the hill there was
very bedlam of uproar when Jesus was
born. In a village capable of accommodate
ing only a few hundred people, many thou
sand people were crowded; and amid hos
tiers and mueteers and camel drivers yelling
at stupid beasts of burden, the Messiah ap-
peared No silence. No privacy. A better
adapted place hath the eaglet in the eyrie-
hath the whelp in the lions lair. The exile of
heaven lieth down upon the straw. The
first night out from the palace of heaven
spent in an clubhouse One hour after laying
aside the robes of heaven, dressed IN a
wrapper of coarse linen. One would have
supposed that Christ would have made
more gradual descent coming from heaven
first to a halfway world of great magnitude,
then to Caesars palace, then to merchants
castle in Galilee, then to private home III
Bethany, then to fisherman's hut, and last
of all to the stable. mol it was one leap
from the top to the bottom.
Let US open the door of the carayanSary in
Bethlehem, and drive away the camels;
Press on through the group of idlers and
loungers. What, Mary, no lights No
light" she says, save that which comes
through the door, What, Mary no food.
g None.n she says, only that which is
brought in the sack on the Journey Let
the Bethlehem woman who has come in here
with kindly attentions put back the covering
from the babe that we may look upon 1t.
Lookl Lookl Uncover your head. Let US
kneel Let all voices be hushed Son of Mary!
Son of Godl Child of day-non-
arch of eternityl In that eye the
in that babes arm That voice to be
changed from the feeble plant to the tone
that shall wake the dead. Hosannal Ho-
sannal Glory be to God that Jesus came
from throne to mauger that we might rise
from manger to throne and that all the gates
are open, and that the door of heaven that
once swung this way to let Jesus out, now
swings the other way to let US in. Let all
the bellmen of heaven lay hold the rope, and
glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to
all people; for to-day is born in the city Of
David a Saviour which is Christ the LordTh
The second installment paid for our souls
clearance was the scene in Quarantania,
mountainous region full of caverns, where
there are to this day panthers and wild
beasts of all sorts; so that you must nov.
or gun or pistol 1t was there that Jesus
went to think and pray, and it was there
that this monster of he'll, more sly,
more terrific than anything that prowled
in that country-Satan himself, met
Christ. The rose in the cheek of Christ
that Publius Lentulus in his letter to the
Roman Senate, ascribed to Jesus-that rose
had scattered its petals. Abstinence from
food had thrown him into emaciation. The
longest abstinence from food recorded in
profane history is that of the crew of the
shin Juno; for twenty-three days they had
nothing to eat. But this sufferer had tasted
month and ten days before He broke fast.
Hunger must have agonized every fibre of
the body and gnawed on the stomach with
teeth of death The thought of a morsel of
bread or meat must have thrilled the body
with something like ferocity. Turn out
Pack of men hungry as Christ was a-hun-
gered, and if they had strength, with one
yell they would devour you as lion would
a kid. 1t was in that pang of hunger that
Jesus was accosted and Satan said: ''Now
change these Stones which look like bread,
into an actual supply of bread" Had the
temptation come to you or me under those
circumstances we would have cried" Bread
it shall be-" and had been almost impatient
at TIE time taken for mastication; but
Christ with one hand beat back the hunger,
and with the other hand beat back the mon
arch of darkness. o. ye tempted ones!
Christ WIS tempted. We are told that Ma
polson ordered coat of mail made; but he
YVES not quite certain that it was impene-
trable, so he said to the manufacturer of
that coat of mail: "Put it on now your
self and let US try it, and with shot
after shot from his own pistol the Emperor
found out that it was just what it pretended
to be-a good coat Of mail. Then the man
received large reward. / bless God that
the same coat of mail that struck back the
weapons of temptation from the heart of
Christ we may all now wear; for Jesus
comes and says: 81 have been tempted, and
know what it is to be tempted. Take this
robe that defended Me and wear it for your
selves will see You through all trials, and
will see you through all temptation
''BuJ," says Satan still further to Jesus
''come and will show you something worth
looking at, and after half-day's journey
thay came to Jerusalem and to the top of the
Temple. just as one might go up in the
tower OF Antwerp ana LOOK OH upon BEL
GUM, so Satan brought Christ to the top oil
the Temple. Some people at a great height
feel dizzy, and have strange disposition to
jump; so Satan comes to Christ with a pow
eiful temptation in that very crisis Stand
ing there at the top Of the Temple they look
oil. magnificent reach of country
Grain fields, vineyards. olive groves, forests
and streams, cattle in the valley, hocks on
the hills, and villages, and cities, and realms.
Now" says Satan. "l'll make a bargain.
just jump off. know it is a great way from
the top Of the Temple to the valley, but if you
ARE divine you can fly. Jump off. 1t won't
hurt you. Angels will catch YOU Your
Father will hold you. Besides, I'll make you
a large present, if you will. I'll give you
A-fa Tvn2v- IL 7. ~
China, IN give you Ethiopia, I'll give you
Italy, I'll give you Spain, I'll give you Ger
many, I'll give you Britain, l Il give you all
the world" What a humiliation it must
have been.
Go tomorrow morning and get into an al
tercation with some wretch crawling III
from gin-cellar in the Fourth Ward, New
York. No. you say, 81 would not bemean
myself by getting in such contest" Then
think of what the King of Heaven and
Earth endured when He came down and
fought that great wretch of hell, and fought
him in the wilderness anil on the too or the
Temple. But bless God in that triumph
over temptation Christ gives us the assurance
that we shall also triumph. Having Himself
been tempted He is able to succor all those
who are tempted.
In a violent storm at "a the mate told a
boy-fOr the rigging had become entangled
in the mast-to go up aud right it. A gentle
man standing on the deck said: Don't send
LnaJ boy up, ne Will De dashed TO death. d"
The mate said: 81 know what am about. y
The boy raised his hat in recognition of the
order, and then rose, hand over
hand and went to work; and as he
swung in the storm the passengers wrung
their hands and expected TO see him fall The
work done. he came down in safety, and a
Christian man said to him: "Why dld you
go down in the forecastle before you went
upT' All" said the boy, II went down to
pray. My mother always taught me before
] undertook anything great to pray" What